The aim of this proposal is to assess bone quality of osteosarcoma resected human tissue by using μXANES at the Ca K-edges to obtain the chemical speciation of mineral bone at a spatial resolution down to the micrometric scale. This will allow to visualise and evaluate bone composition of osteosarcoma tissue and to compare the healthy control bone with OS affected tissue from the same subject. Due to its rarity, osteosarcoma is still lacking a reliable and precise chemical characterization of bone composition and the results of this proposal will help to tackle this gap. Thanks to a better understanding of bone changes in OS tissue this study could be translated into: i) pre-clinical research, ii) therapeutic strategy and iii) eventually clinical practice.

The main aim of this proposal is to study how the osteblasic differentiation stimuli affect the maturation process of mineral depositions released by osteosarcoma SaOS2 cells at 4 and 10 days after osteoblastic induction. To this purpose we will use x-ray scanning nano-diffraction at a spatial resolution down to 50 nm. This will allow to visualise and evaluate the genesis of nano-sized-mineral depositions and collagen fibrils produced by osteosarcoma cells. This study will contribute to unveil the genesis of bone mineralization process in osteosarcoma which is still far from being elucidated. Moreover, this research is a part of a larger project aimed at validating a new anticancer strategy based on the differentiation of osteosarcoma cells towards a less aggressive phenotype. The application of this strategy will be fundamental to improve the chance to translate the new knowledge to osteosarcoma clinical practice and treatment.

The goal of this proposal is to assess the bone quality of osteosarcoma (OS) resected human tissue, by using xray scanning micro-diffraction at a spatial resolution down to 1 micron. This will allow to visualise and evaluate the bone microarchitecture, bone mineral platelets and collagen fibrils of osteosarcoma tissue. The bone microarchitectures and bone quality of OS will be compared with the healthy control bone and with histological data of the same subject. Due to its rarity, osteosarcoma is still lacking a reliable and precise characterization of the bone quality morphology as well as microarchitecture information at the micron scale. The results of this proposal will help to tackle this gap and will get a better understanding of bone quality, microarchitecture changes in OS tissue.

The main aim of this proposal is to study how the osteblasic differentiation stimuli affect the maturation process of mineral depositions released by osteosarcoma SaOS2 cells at 4 and 10 days after the osteoblastic induction. To this purpose we will use µXANES at the Ca K-edges to obtain the chemical speciation of mineral depositions since Ca is one the constitutive and pivotal element of hexagonal hydroxyapatite crystal present in bone. This study will contribute to unveil the genesis of bone mineralization process in osteosarcoma which is still far from to be elucidated. Moreover, this research is a part of a larger project aimed to validate a new anticancer strategy, based on the differentiation of osteosarcoma cells towards a less aggressive phenotype. The application of this strategy will be fundamental to improve the chance to translate the new knowledge in osteosarcoma clinical practice and treatment.

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<b>Abstract</b><br/><p>While considerable evidence exists of biogeographic patterns in the intensity of species interactions, the influence of these patterns on variation in community structure is less clear. Using a model selection approach on measures of trait dispersion in crustaceans associated with eelgrass (<i>Zostera marina</i>) spanning 30º of latitude in two oceans, we found that dispersion strongly increased with increasing predation and decreasing latitude. Ocean and epiphyte load appeared as secondary predictors; Pacific communities were more overdispersed while Atlantic communities were more clustered, and increasing epiphytes were associated with increased clustering. By examining how species interactions and environmental filters influence community structure across biogeographic regions, we demonstrate how both latitudinal variation in species interactions and historical contingency shape these responses. Community trait distributions have implications for ecosystem stability and functioning, and integrating large-scale observations of environmental filters, species interactions, and traits can help us predict how communities may respond to environmental change.</p>

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